"In the waning days of the race, much of this manifested in raising doubts about the polls and comical exaggerations about the possibility of a Romney landslide. Rush Limbaugh told his millions of listeners that 'everything except the polls points to a Romney landslide,' but the problem went beyond mavens like Limbaugh to afflict more well-regarded political analysts like Michael Barone and George Will.

". . . Analysts like Karl Rove — who through his stewardship of outside spending groups had a clear financial interest in giving upbeat assessments of Romney's chances — were given prominent perches to hoodwink the viewers of Fox News and the readers of the Wall Street Journal. And as Media Matters' Simon Maloy documents, Jennifer Rubin, the Washington Post's pro-Romney blogger, expressed a far less sanguine view of campaign events after the election than she did when she covered them in real time.

". . . Conservative media lies to its audience because much of its audience wants to be lied to. Those lies actually have far more drastic consequences for governance (think birthers and death panels) than for elections, where the results can't be, for lack of a better word, 'skewed.' "

On Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," conservative Newsweek columnist David Frum, who served as a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, called Republican leaders "cowards" and said "Republicans have been fleeced, exploited and lied to by the conservative entertainment complex." A surprised host Joe Scarborough agreed and said it reminded him of French generals in World War II who kept reassuring British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that "they were putting up brave defenses when they knew they had already lost."

Exhibit A has been Rove, the GOP fundraiser and strategist who is also a Fox News Channel analyst. The New York Times' Jeremy W. Peters Wednesday revisited Election Night on Fox News, when the network called Ohio for President Obama. "Karl Rove stood just off camera, his phone glued to his ear. On the other end was a senior Romney campaign official who insisted that the network had blown the call," Peters wrote.

"What followed — an extraordinary on-air confrontation between Mr. Rove, a Fox commentator, and the network's team of voting analysts — drew renewed focus on the Republican operative's complicated and conflicting roles in this presidential campaign.

"What role was Karl Rove playing when he heatedly contradicted Fox News?

"Was he acting as the man who oversaw the most expensive advertising assault on a sitting president in history, unable to face his own wounded pride? The fund-raiser who had persuaded wealthy conservatives to give hundreds of millions of dollars and now had a lot of explaining to do? Or the former political strategist for George W. Bush, who saw firsthand how a botched network call could alter the course of a presidential contest?"

"This time around, she was hired by the campaign itself, coming on board in August 2012 as one of two photojournalists on Obama's campaign team. Her image of the president hugging his wife went viral on Tuesday night when the campaign tweeted it — along with the phrase 'Four more years' — after news came that he'd won re-election. The post went on to become the most retweeted in Twitter history, and the image quickly became Facebook's most-liked ever."

Julia Turner conducted a Q-and-A with Tufankjian for "The Real Story of the Most-Liked Photograph of All Time."

"I'd lost track of how they'd done, in the great washout of digital disruption. I checked in with Scarborough Research, the U.S. newspaper industry's go-to source for readership, both print and digital.

"The Scarborough data [paint] an unmistakable portrait: When it comes to audience, the American newspaper industry looks a lot like the Republican Party. Consequently, its business reversals parallel the deepening Republican national electoral woes. The newspaper audience looks remarkably like the arithmetic that put Mitt Romney on the losing end Tuesday and is forcing Republicans to self-assess how to move forward. The math is the math.

"We can look at the data in three segments: print audience, digital audience, and combined audience.

". . . The conclusion: The daily industry is doing okay with older, white people — mildly overperforming in print, digital, and combined.

"Among all other ethnic groups except Asian-Americans — off the charts with high overperformance for online news usage — newspapers are underperforming. They, like Mitt Romney, aren't getting their share of the fastest growing population slices in the U.S. . . . ."

"Sales were up, but nothing like four years ago," John Murray, vice president of audience development for the Newspaper Association of America, the newspaper publishers trade group, told Journal-isms by email.

"We did see increased demand yesterday on single copy sales," Eileen Murphy, spokeswoman for the New York Times, messaged on Thursday. "Hard to tell exactly how big the sale was until we get all returns back, but certainly a much bigger day than usual in terms of single copy sales."

"We saw an uptick in sales consistent with what we normally see the day after a general election," Gary Weitman, spokesman for Tribune Co., said. "Nothing like what we saw after the President was elected in 2008."

"There was a spike, but we don't have final numbers yet," said Kris Coratti, spokeswoman for the Washington Post, said on Thursday. "I can tell you that we printed double our normal single copy run."

"So we end up with such a narrow, truncated political discourse, as the major problems — ecological catastrophe, climate change, global warming. So it's very sad. I mean, I'm glad there was not a right-wing takeover, but we end up with a Republican, a Rockefeller Republican in blackface, with Barack Obama, so that our struggle with regard to poverty intensifies.

". . . our battle is just beginning. We have yet to take off the gloves. You know, we've been fighting intensely."

" . . . Most sexist insult: Goes to Fox News's The Five anchors Greg Gutfeld and Kimberly Guilfoyle for repeatedly calling Florida congresswoman/DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz 'Frizzilla.' Clips were shown of both anchors using the term and then smiling in a way that would suggest that they thought they were very clever to criticize a woman's hairstyle.

"Most sexist debate question: Moderator and Capital Tonight host Liz Benjamin, noticing that both New York senate candidates happened to be female, just had to ask them if they'd read 50 Shades of Grey yet. They said no. Candidate Wendy Long later said the question was 'out of left field, out of touch, and outlandishly sexist.' She forgot to say 'ridiculous' and 'totally irrelevant to the candidates’ abilities to do the job.' . . . "

"Black men from all walks of life are gathering next Tuesday, November 13, in Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia as part of BMe — a growing community that encourages black men to 'lift up their voices' and tell others about the positive contributions they make in their communities, according to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

"Teams of videographers are fanning out across city neighborhoods over the next eight weeks, and more than 1,700 men are expected to record videos about special projects and everyday actions they take to strengthen their neighborhoods and help others."

". . . Events are being held on Tuesday, November 13, in those three cities to issue a 'call for stories' that will be featured on the BMe website. Early next year, participants will be able to apply for grants to support their community work."

A conference call for reporters is scheduled for 1 p.m.-1:30 p.m. EST/Noon-12:30 CST. Journalists may contact Jenn Henrichsen at <bmepress2.0 (at) gmail.com> for log-in details for the call.

In a story Friday about the success of Al Sharpton's "PoliticsNation" on MSNBC, the Daily Beast's Allison Samuels quotes an unnamed member of President Obama's inner circle. "Sharpton says things we can't always say. Sharpton can talk about issues relating to race in a way the White House just can't. Sharpton understands that well, and we appreciate it."

A sold-out screening of Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey With Mumia Abu-Jamal, written, directed and edited by Stephen Vittoria, is scheduled for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at SVA Theatre (School of the Visual Arts Theatre), 333 West 23rd St. in Manhattan. Abu-Jamal, a onetime president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, has spent 30 years in prison for the killing of a policeman. A question-and-answer with Vittoria and co-producer Noelle Hanrahan is to be moderated by Juan Gonzalez of "Democracy Now!" and the Daily News in New York.

In "21 Things About Malcolm Gladwell," the New Yorker writer and best-selling author, Beth Callaghan of All Things D asks Gladwell, "If you could meet any historical or fictional person, who would it be?" Gladwell responds, "Marie Curie. She lived in a time when not only did no one think that she had a brain, no one thought her entire gender had a brain. But she accomplished extraordinary things nonetheless, and she won two Nobel prizes."

Richard Prince's Journal-isms originates from Washington and is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It began in print before most of us knew what the Internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a "column." For newcomers: The words in blue (on most computers) are links leading to more information. The Web site BugMeNot.com provides passwords and user names to some registration-only news sites, but use may be illegal in some states. Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.

Not only did the right winged factions of the GOP lie, they cheated, hurled racial insults, and even attempted to disrespect the president. Ater all this, they still lost. America sent them a message saying, America is for all americans not just..white americans!! They (repubs) kept saying, we are taking our country back. Really? Where did it go? Hispanics and Asians who usually vote Repub 2 and 3 to 1 rolled with Obama. Word up to Republicans..This is not 1901, 1952 or 1982..You cannot do it alone anymore.

People are sick and tired of your bigotry, hate and not wanting to do anything for the american people.

The worst thing ever happen to YOU (republicans) was including the tea beggers and the Fox News Network in your corner. Fox news is truely pathetic. They report so much false innuendo and information.

So change, become more inclusive and work with the president. If not, You are gonna be grabbing another box of Kleenex come 2016!!!!

One thing I'll mention. I've been waatching the various TV outlets and all the whining, name calling and vitrol coming from the Republicans after this loss. Some are even saying there is "no mandate" from the people even though Obama won handily.

My take on it is, American's are going to remember what we are seeing today and the mid-term elections are going to bring more misery to the GOP. If they had any brains at all they would stop whining, work with the President and show the voters they are doing the job they were elected to do. If they fail, well they are easily replaced...

jane jupiter and HardKnocks like this.

Diane Griego

You have no clue what misery is. But will. Consider yourself forewarned.

Shout Out 13

Forewarned?

Keep stalking, harassing and threatening people.

Consider yourself forewarned, Diane.

-- Brother Shoutout13

c.c. folder 934-Alpha-723 Screenshot November 12,2012 5:37 a.m.

1Tinman1 "You have no clue what misery is. But will. Consider yourself forewarned.'

How miserable do you wish to be.....LMAO!!

You've been lied to girl! You've been Koched, Roved, Rushed and flushed!

Is the GOP media at fault for misleading their audience about Romney's chances?

This GOP machine consists of the media wing, Fox Noise, with several correspondents appearing on CNN and occasionally MSNBC. Their internet wing, Drudge, Breitbart, theBlaze, RedState, Townhall. And their message handed out in daily talking points from the Republican politicians and Republican political campaigns.

It sounds like a really tight operation UNTIL one card falls. Then it falls like a house of cards.

The card that fell was Romney's internal polling.

Internal polling by Romney campaign pollster Nate Newhouse showed Romney LEADING. In fact polling completed Sunday night BEFORE the election showed Romney UP 3 points in New Hampshire, UP 2 points in Iowa and a dead heat in Wisconsin. And SURPRISE, a dead heat in Pennsylvania.

The Romney internal polling also showed Florida, Virginia and North Carolina were solidly in the Romney camp as well.

So when "the media" showed independent polling completely different from Romney's internal polling. In TYPICAL right-wing fashion, the "lame stream media" was to blame. "The lame stream media" was in the tank for President Obama was the Republican response.

In fact the Romney campaign and the right-wing media/internet machine believed up until the election results started coming in, THEY'D WON.

It's the reason there's been such shocked, stunned looks and sounds coming from Republicans.

The right-wing media machine is used to telling whatever story the Republican party wants told. TRUTH nor FACTS are important, just make sure the Republican party is painted in the best light. Make sure the story is one that ONLY benefits the right-wing.

The 2012 election for Republicans can be summed up simply..."Hoisted by their own petard"

Their very own MEDIA/INTERNET machine used to consistently LIE TO the American public, bit Republicans in their OWN collective a****!!

I call it POETIC JUSTICE!!

1Tinman1, QuietThoughtsII, TIGHTWRIGHT and Shout Out 13 like this.

Shout Out 13

I said it before, the GOP lied long before the campaign and with som many still in denial, they will probably continue to lie long after.

-- Brother Shoutout13

1Tinman1 and QuietThoughtsII like this.

HardKnocks

The gop's entire campaign was based on lies and dishonesty. They didn't even try to hide it. They publicly came out and said they would not be bothered with facts! They were betting that there were enough uneducated, bitter, hateful citizens that only wanted Mr. Obama out the whitehouse by any means necessary. The American people saw straight through that chit and shut it down!

Poor Romney had to hitch a ride home with his son after the election because the Secret Service convoy terminated his service. That's too cold SS! Y'all could have at least took the man back home....Lol.

1Tinman1, QuietThoughtsII and TIGHTWRIGHT like this.

QuietThoughtsII

They were clearly WRONG and that isn't even a question. More than that, polls that were not media based / sponsored have said for months Obama would win, and they of course were right. (I have been saying the same for months.)

So the question is, was it intentional or was it a case of don't say anything negative to scare the republican base and the BIG MONEY suppoters paying for everything? I believe it's a little of both but I also believe the "why" is no longer important because those doing it (Faux Noise) and the GOP lost credibility with their biggest contributors and those people are not going to open their wallets so blindly next time.

If there is anything a rich person hates its being tricked into backing a loser. Don't expect it to happen again. 1Tinman1, TIGHTWRIGHT and Shout Out 13 like this.

nwman7

Say Mister; I am not going to call you a racist, or a putz or a liar. Those are favorites words of liberal progressives not conservatives) Right wing media ( white media) called it 47% Barack 47% Romey before election. The end it was 50 to 48; so what is the big deal. Conservatives did not show up to vote. Lower voter turn out for the big R than in 2008. America moves on. Why don't you as a man tone it down with name calling and simply unfriendly tone. We need to get along. Peace

1Tinman1 Love the irony! I think the word you're looking for is denial, aka; lying to yourself.

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